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Skin infections pose risk to trapped Chilean miners

San Jose Mine rescuers have sent down antibiotics and ointments and were working Tuesday to blast cool, dry air to 33 trapped miners.

A television screen shows the 33 Chilean miners trapped in a copper and gold mine, as they watch an international friendly soccer match Tuesday between Chile and Ukraine inside the mine, at Copiapo. (Sept. 7, 2010). (Supplied photo / REUTERS)

By Peter PrengamanAssociated Press

Tues., Sept. 7, 2010

SAN JOSE MINE, CHILE—Rescuers have sent down antibiotics and ointments and were working Tuesday to blast cool, dry air to 33 miners trapped a kilometre underground for more than a month.

All the men have suffered from skin sores, foot fungi or abrasions, and infections could prove dangerous in the sweltering heat and humidity, with rescue at least six weeks away.

Scrapes, cuts and infections like athlete’s foot and jock itch are usually just minor annoyances. But trapped as they are in unrelenting 30 C heat, with humidity at 88 per cent, the miners don’t have any way of drying out.

In videos transmitted from down below, the miners can be seen shirtless and sweating.

In such an environment, any open wound presents a serious risk, so the miners have been instructed to use extreme caution. A simple cut from moving rocks could lead to dangerous infections, Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich told Associated Press.

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Most at risk are diabetics, who face increased complications from skin infections under the best circumstances. There is at least one diabetic among the trapped miners, who has been receiving insulin through the narrow bore holes that have become a lifeline for the miners.

The constant exposure to moisture creates the possibility of infections, especially when the men are living and sleeping together in close quarters and can’t shower, according to Dr. Boni Elewski, a dermatology professor at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

The exposed skin on the feet as well as areas where sweat accumulates, such as around the groin, the neck, under the chin or between fat rolls, could foster sores or fungi — commonly known as athlete’s foot or jock itch — that could become infected with bacteria.

Limited hygiene and constant humidity also makes the miners susceptible to an infection and inflammation of hair follicles that causes itchiness.

And then there is gas gangrene, an infection that can start when bacteria commonly found in the soil enters a wound. This bacteria thrives in low-oxygen environments and rapidly kills tissue, making immediate removal of the affected area or amputation of a limb necessary, Elewski said.

“The longer they are there in this situation, the higher the risk that someone will develop a serious skin problem,” she said.

It’s unclear how long the miners will be stuck underground. The Chilean government has said it could take until December to drill a hole big enough to pull them out, while other experts have said it could be as soon as late October.

Two massive mining drills are being used — one widening one of the existing bore holes and the other forging a new opening — and the government plans to use a third drill to widen one of the other bore holes.

Rescuers have become increasingly sophisticated in their use of three narrow bore holes, each less than 6 inches (15 centimetres) wide.

But attempts last week to cool the miners’ cramped environment with a narrow air hose failed, Manalich said. On Tuesday, rescuers were working to send down a better hose with a compressor that can pump about 30 litres of dry air per minute.

This second hose — which contains separate ducts that can also carry water and fibre-optic cables — will emerge about 20 metres from the shelter where the men have taken refuge, and it remains to be seen how much impact it will have on the overall area where the miners are stuck. The lower reaches of the mine stretch more than two kilometers below where the main shaft collapsed on Aug. 5.

The installation is being phased in over the next couple days, and the air hose should be working by Thursday, Manalich said. He expressed hope that enough fresh air will make it down so that the miners “feel a difference.”

On Tuesday, another fiber-optic cable brought some relief to the miners, enabling them to watch a live broadcast of the Chilean national soccer team playing Ukraine. A miniature projector snaked down a bore hole displayed the game on an underground wall.

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